Rob Hennin: more public-private partnering in Health

In a recent interview with the National Business Review, nib New Zealand CEO Rob Hennin laid out some of the key issues in health policy ahead of the election on 17 October.

Rob sees more public-private partnerships as the key to delivering a more sustainable health system. Sweeping changes were recommended in June’s Health and Disability System Review and how the incoming government responds to those will set the direction for 2021 and beyond.

Key recommendations include reducing the number of District Health Boards (DHBs) and replacing Primary Health Organisations with a connected network of providers for primary and community health services. The review also proposed a new agency to deliver health policy and new and independent Māori Health Authority.

In his NBR interview, Rob spoke to the value of an agency advocating for Māori health, saying “we have a number of partnerships with iwi and it is clear that their needs are different, and the way you bring care into the right cultural settings is very, very important.”

The review opens up more possibilities for outsourcing public health services to the private sector, which Rob sees as important for the sustainability of the healthcare system. “I would like to see the public system partner more with private, including insurance and the private hospitals,” he says, “to reduce the amount of out-of-pocket expenses for New Zealanders.”

nib also supports the rise of telehealth and home delivery pharmacy services like Zoom, which improve access to healthcare at home and take the strain off of existing healthcare infrastructure. Rob talked about a future where more and more services can be efficiently delivered at home or in the community, in partnership with private providers.

An area where transformation is happening is in data science, both for risk prediction and to deliver precisely targeted medical treatment. “We do it today on a small scale” says Rob, adding “there’s a huge opportunity to do that on a bigger scale. But that requires the public system and the private system to work more collaboratively together.”

On the subject of COVID-19, Rob talked about the impact on nib. Policyholder numbers are up; staff have been working at home since mid-March; and advisers have been proactively checking in on members and keeping their needs top of mind for nib. A COVID-19 response package was put together that offered premium relief, extended coverage for telehealth and other initiatives.

An area where transformation is happening is in data science, both for risk prediction and to deliver precisely targeted medical treatment. “We do it today on a small scale” says Rob, adding “there’s a huge opportunity to do that on a bigger scale. But that requires the public system and the private system to work more collaboratively together.”

On the subject of COVID-19, Rob talked about the impact on nib. Policyholder numbers are up; staff have been working at home since mid-March; and advisors have been proactively checking in on members and keeping their needs top of mind for nib. A COVID-19 response package was put together that offered premium relief, extended coverage for telehealth and mental health, and other initiatives.

“Clearly there’s a health crisis,” says Rob “but also there’s an economic crisis. And so what we’ve done is to really try and support our members.” He felt the crisis has shown how adaptable Kiwis are when it comes to health service delivery, but that it also showed how important it was that services were executed well.

If you are an NBR subscriber, you can read the interview here: https://www.nbr.co.nz/story/rob-hennin-more-public-private-partnering-health